10 BEST SOFTWARE FOR VISUAL PERFORMANCE ARTIST - 8

MXWENDLER

Device+Context, the publishers, intend to offer MXWendler as a comprehensive solution for anyone looking for powerful A/V rendering and manipulation services. This naturally includes corporations in addition to artists. Apart from Stage Designer which is MXWendler’s software piece, the publishers also offer FXServer which is optimized to work well with the software. The hardware and software are pricey (hardware available at a €350 rental basis and an unquoted buying price; software is in excess of €850) and obviously the complete solution is not meant for a normal VJ. For the VJ there is the option of licensing the software on a monthly basis (@ 10% of list price) or take advantage of a 20% discount (only if you make less than 25000 €/year) to buy a Stage Designer Entropy Pack (3 options included; €850) or Stage Designer Eventdriver Pack (all options included; €2450). Go here for more pricing information.
MXWendler supports 10 layer video editing, 4 external video streams, with a maximum of 24 clips loadable simultaneously: each individually controllable. Its sleek interface makes it a joy to work with, and there is never any sense of clutter or incomprehension while working with it. Most features that come in other packages are standard on MXWendler and this is not surprising given how expensive it is (exceptions: no automated mixing, no SMS-to-Screen, no DV output, and most importantly NO FREEFRAME SUPPORT). The design philosophy is similar to VVVV, with a single real-time system and an output correction engine ensures that real-time multi-screen output is seamlessly achieved. You can view “555 KUBIK” installation to get a glimpse of its power.
The software is optimized for NVIDIA graphics cards (ATI is also supported). It works with 1 GB RAM (4GB recommended), 512 MB VRAM, and Mac OS X 10.4/Windows XP or later. There is no trial version.